Snow is expected to linger in the mountains and in the metro region Thursday, after the storm’s first pass snarled traffic and buried roads in the high country Wednesday afternoon.

Traffic accidents, about 10 inches of snow and wind gusts of 35 mph closed lanes of Interstate 70 at Vail Pass and near the Eisenhower Tunnel.

The high temperature is expected to reach the mid-30s in Denver Thursday, and the city and central mountains could receive up to an inch of snow, according to the National Western Service.

Another round of snow could hit the mountains this weekend as Denver begins to warm up, forecasters said.

Forecasters had said Wednesday that the metro region was in line to receive up to 3 inches overnight, but the storm shifted to the south in the afternoon and was expected to deliver the heavier snow south of the Palmer Divide.

Denver has received less than 2 inches of snow this season, most of it on Nov. 15.

Wednesday’s wintry weather arrived one day after Denver’s record high for the date on Tuesday, when the temperature reached 70 degrees at Denver International Airport.

The previous record for Dec. 14 was 69 degrees in 1924.

Denver has a slight chance of snow on Friday, with a high of about 33 degrees, before temperatures begin to warm up for the weekend, reaching 50 on Sunday and Monday, forecasters said.

While northern Colorado has received heavy snow this season, much of the Front Range and southern Colorado have been abnormally dry.

The basins of the Colorado, Yampa and North Platte rivers are between 122 percent and 140 percent of their 30-year averages for this time of year, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Lakewood.

Snowpack in southern Colorado ranges from 45 percent in the Upper Rio Grande River basin to 79 percent in the Gunnison River basin.

Kieran Nicholson covers breaking news for The Denver Post. He started at the Post in 1986, at the old building on 15th and California streets. Nicholson has covered a variety of beats including suburbs, courts, crime and general assignment.

The owners of Boulder’s Sterling University Peaks apartments, who this summer were cited for illegally subdividing 92 bedrooms in the complex, have reached an agreement to settle the case for $410,000, the city announced Thursday.